This invention relates to the identification and use of Extremophiles which, as used herein, include microbial communities which are adapted to extreme environments. Extreme environments may include high temperatures, low or high pH values, high pressures, desiccation stress, exposure to harsh chemicals, exposure to radiation, and combinations of environmental extremes.
Liquid high-level radioactive waste presents one of the most extreme environments known to man and ecological challenges with respect to adaptation of organisms to live in such an environment. The high-level radioactive waste tanks exhibit a number of extreme parameters with which microorganisms must deal. The environmental extremes include the elevation of temperature, salt, pH, organic constituents, inorganic constituents, and ionizing radiation. Any one of these parameters in the extreme are often sufficient to restrict life. Organisms which do adapt to such conditions have developed unique enzymatic pathways and other chemical and morphological adaptations which permit their survival. Such organisms and their adaptations are of interest.